Spilled Bourbon
by Durbe the Barian
Summary: "Just this afternoon, there was a shooting at the Cafe Poirot. One of the waiters, 29 year old Tooru Amuro, was wounded and is currently receiving treatment." Why is he remembering the past at a time like that? - This story is kinda fast and is constantly jumping. Please find safe ground and be wary of stepping stones. They might be landmines.


**Detective Conan**

**Spilled Bourbon **

**Angst**

**Bourbon**

"**Just this afternoon, there was a shooting at the Cafe Poirot. One of the waiters, 29 year old Tooru Amuro, was wounded and is currently receiving treatment." Why is he remembering the past at a time like that? - This story is kinda fast and is constantly jumping. Please find safe ground and be wary of stepping stones.**

**(I don't own Detective Conan. Thank goodness for that!)**

* * *

Spilled Bourbon

* * *

It was Saturday. No school for little children. Because of that, added to the rather late night adventure (Better known as a murder case) that the members of the Mouri Detective Agency had gotten into, the young Conan Edogawa did not get up until around 10 AM.

A loud yawn escaped him as he opened Kogoro's bedroom door and stepped into the living room. "Good morning, Ran-Neechan," he mumbled.

"Morning, Conan-kun," Ran responded, poking her head out of the kitchen. "Breakfast will be ready soon."  
"That's great," Conan said with a smile. Then he sat down at the table and waited for the meal to be served. Solving cases until 3 o'clock in the morning can make a detective hungry.

But what happened later that day was going to rip away his appetite.

* * *

(Around lunch time.)

"Amuro-san," Azusa called out, "Table 3's order's ready."

"Got it," Tooru responded, that smile on his face refusing to fade as usual. "I'll go take that to them then."

"Thanks," Azusa said gratefully. "I appreciate it."

Beaming, Tooru picked up the order and brought it to the table without hesitation. "There you go," he said, setting the plates before the customers. "Please enjoy."

"Will do," the customers responded. "Thank you very much."

Tooru gave the customers a quick bow before returning to his spot at the counter.

Then he proceeded to look around. "Business is pretty slow today," he reported.

"The ace detective of Cafe Poirot strikes again," Azusa teased. "Don't worry. It'll liven up soon. It's almost lunch time, after all."

"That's a good point," Tooru responded.

If only Azusa knew how much things were going to liven up.

* * *

(About an hour later.)

Ran and Conan were walking down the street, groceries in their hands. "Thanks for helping me out with the shopping, Conan-kun," Ran said with a smile.

"Mmm," went Conan, nodding slightly. "It was my pleasure, Ran-neechan."

Ran simply grinned.

Then Conan's stomach growled.

A red tint painted his face as he turned to the side embarrassingly.

That forced a chuckle out of Ran. "I'll be sure to make lunch when we get back," she said.

"A-Arigato, Ran-neechan," Conan whispered.

"That reminds me," Ran breathed, going through the grocery bags a little bit. "Think I should make something for Amuro-san too? Azusa-san said he'd be working all day today. He might not have gotten lunch yet."

"No," Conan exclaimed suddenly.

"No?" Ran repeated curiously. "Why not?"

Conan couldn't say that it was because the place Tooru chose to work in was questionable. Ran would be certain to jump to conclusions. (Seeing as how he can't say, "He's one of the men in black.")

"Um," went Conan. "Well, because...," instantly the excuse came out; "because Zero-niichan said that he was going to get something to eat with Azusa-san. We shouldn't offer something to him, because then he wouldn't eat as much with her."

Okay. Lousy excuse. But at the time, it was the best that Conan could make on such short notice.

And fortunately for him, Ran bought it.

"I see," she said, placing her finger against her cheek. "Well, in that case, more for us, huh?"

"Yeah," Conan said, wiping the sweat from his face. Then he mentally added, "That was too close. I don't want to hang around him if I can help it."

That's when they heard the one thing they didn't want to hear.

A gunshot.

Instantly, both Ran and Conan froze, their eyes wide with horror.

"Was that-?" Ran choked out.

"It came from the detective agency," Conan confirmed.

"Otousan!" Ran shrieked, throwing down her groceries as she raced forward, her fright increasing her speed significantly.

Conan followed shortly after, catching up to her in no time.

But what surprised them even more was that it wasn't from the detective agency.

It was from the cafe directly below.

A large crowd had gathered outside, murmurs spreading like wildfire.

"Call an ambulance!" someone shouted. "Hurry! A man's been shot!"

"Otousan!" Ran cried, tears threatening to pour from her face.

Without even thinking, she started to force her way through the crowd, all the while still calling out for her father.

"Otousan!" she said tearfully. "Otousan!"

"Ran!"

Mere moments after she finished forcing her way through the crowd, she was wrapped in the hug of someone who smelled of alcohol and cigarettes.

Pulling her head away, she found that it was her father, alive and well, completely unharmed. "O...Otousan," Ran breathed, her voice breaking slightly. "You're okay."

"Yes, I'm fine," Kogoro said simply yet somberly.

"Then, who got shot?" Ran asked, tears threatening to escape her again.

She didn't need a vocal answer.

During their father-daughter moment, Conan too forced himself through the crowd and entered the cafe.

Then he let out a gasp.

Tooru Amuro was on his hands and knees, sweating buckets as he clenched a terrible bullet wound. Azusa was sitting right beside him, hear tears touching the blood stain on their floor.

Sensing another set of eyes looking at him, Tooru forced himself to look up. He took in the expression that Conan was wearing.

Total shock and horror.

Not something he would have given to a member of the Black Organization.

Fighting off the darkness, Tooru plastered a pain smile onto his face and said, "Hello, Conan-kun."

"A-Amuro-san," Conan choked out.

Then that smile faded...and Tooru fell to the hardwood floor below him, staining his dyed blond hair with his own blood.

* * *

The world was nothing more than a blur to Tooru. He could barely remember briefly waking up to the sight of pure white walls. He could, however, remember rather vividly the cries that Azusa was letting out as she followed him to the OR.

"Amuro-san! Amuro-san! Are you going to be okay?"

"Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to go to the lobby while we handle our jobs," one of the doctors said, gently pushing her away from the rolling bed.

"Is Amuro-san going to be okay!?" Azusa asked worriedly, tears streaming down her face. "Please, tell me!"

Those tears.

Tooru had seen them before. Back when he was just a small child.

_"__Rei-kun!"_

"Elena Miyano-san," he thought, closing his eyes as the darkness took hold of him again.

The only thing he was able to hear after that was, "We don't know right now, Ma'am."

* * *

"_This afternoon, two currently unidentified men attempted to steal from the Cafe Poirot. According to witnesses, one of the waiters working there at the time, 29 year old Tooru Amuro, was shot after attempting to resolve the situation quietly. He is currently in the hospital, receiving treatment. Unfortunately, we have yet to receive any word on his status, so it is unknown if he's going to pull through."_

* * *

(Flashback.)

The face of Elena Miyano was just barely in his sight. "I won't be able to treat you," she said. "I'm going far away soon."

"Huh?" went little Tooru, his eyes the size of tea cup saucers.

"Bye bye, Rei-kun."

* * *

(Another time. Still flashback. Probably OOC.)

"Akai," Tooru called out, stopping the agent in his tracks.

The man in question turned around. "What is it?"

Tooru didn't answer for a moment, then sighed. "It's come to my attention that you're...dating Akemi," he said.

"And if I am?" Akai asked curiously.

Tooru didn't look him in the eye. Instead, he simply walked forward. "Don't let her get hurt," he said. "If you do," he cast him a sidelong glance; "I'll make sure you never see the light of day again."

Akai couldn't help but grin. "Are you talking as another one of her admirers or as her friend?" he asked.

Tooru flinched. "It doesn't matter," he answered evasively, all the while rubbing an old injury.

An old injury she'd helped heal when they were children.

* * *

(Last one.)

"No! It can't be true!"

Tooru banged his fist against his apartment wall, his phone cast to the side and broken into about a hundred pieces. Tears threatened to pour down his face, his teeth gritted in frustration.

"It can't be true," he breathed. "I refuse – I refuse to believe it! Akemi-chan wouldn't just die like that!"

He fell to his knees, stray tears escaping him. "Akemi-chan," he whimpered, shutting his eyes as tightly as he could.

* * *

The doors to the OR opened up after a few hours, allowing all those waiting outside to see the blond-haired patient being rolled away.

"Amuro-san!" the girls cried worriedly, getting up from their seats.

They didn't know what to say. An oxygen mask was still resting on his face, but he didn't appear to be sweating as much as before. However, he looked dreadfully pale, contrary to his usually tanned skin.

After they wheeled him away, Azusa swallowed her fear and turned to the doctor. "How is he?" she asked worriedly, preparing herself for the worst.

The doctor pulled his mask away from his face. "He's going to be fine," he said. "He lost a lot of blood, but he seems to be one heck of a fighter. He'll pull through just fine."

Even Conan had to smile at the news.

* * *

"Well, it's good to see you're doing better, Amuro-kun," Kogoro said several days later.

"Thank you, Mouri-sensei," Tooru responded, throwing his smile onto his face. "Unfortunately, it looks like I won't be out for a while yet, so I won't be abel to help you out on your cases."

He even gave a dramatic sigh to show how 'upset' he was.

"But still," Ran said happily, "you're alive. That's what matters. Right, Conan-kun?"

"Yeah," Conan replied, giving his childish nod. "So get better soon, Amuro-niichan."

Tooru smiled again. "Arigato," he breathed, this time, fully meaning every syllable.

Suddenly, there was a brief knock at Tooru's hospital door, prompting all of them to look towards it.

"Come in," Tooru said.

The door opened up and Azusa poked her head inside. "Hello," she said. "I wanted to see how you were doing, Amuro-san." She then revealed some flowers. "And I wanted to give you these."

"Azusa-san," Tooru breathed. "Come in."

"We'll let ourselves out," Kogoro said.

Even he could sense the aura that so often said, "We wish to speak in private."

So the three of them left, with Conan giving the tanned member of the Black Organization a quick glare before leaving.

Needless to say, he still didn't trust him.

* * *

Azusa slowly placed the flowers in a vase that rested on Tooru's bedside table. Then she sat down and looked at him. "I'm glad to see you're doing alright, Amuro-san," she said.

"That's the first thing that comes out of everybody's mouth," Tooru couldn't help but mentally note.

"How have things been at the cafe?" he asked. "I'm sorry that I'm not available to help you out."

"Oh, you don't have to worry," Azusa said. "Things have been going really smoothly. And Master says that he's waiting patiently for the day you're released and are able to come back to work. You have this knack for bringing in the customers."

Tooru smiled, but only because he knew she wanted him to.

"Oh, and, Amuro-san?" Azusa squeaked.

"Hmm? What is it?" Tooru asked, an innocent expression painting his face.

Azusa played with her hands for a few minutes before she stood up and gave him a bow. "Thank you," she said, her bangs concealing her bright red face.

Naturally, Tooru was slightly stunned. "F-For what?" he asked.

"For saving me," Azusa clarified. "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me," Tooru said quickly. "I only did what any co-worker would do."

"Is that really the reason?" Azusa asked curiously.

Tooru didn't answer that one. Instead, he looked away, towards the greenery outside his window. "Well, actually," he thought to himself, "the truth is I couldn't just stand there...while someone I cared about...got hurt again."

If only Azusa was able to hear those words. Who knows how she would have interpreted them.

* * *

**D.T.B: Hi. So. Quick thing. Bourbon has got to be my favorite character, outside of Conan. (We need more Tooru stories out here!) You all made me like TooruXAkemi. (Hope you're happy with yourselves.) Though I also can't help but think that TooruXAzusa is a possibility too. If you guys got that from this, okay, it was partially intentional. I hope you enjoyed it – or at least tolerated it – and would be pleased to hear your thoughts. Just don't flame me. (Please?) **


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